Clifford Allison
Robert Clifford Allison was an American stock car racing driver. Son of NASCAR champion Bobby Allison, he was a member of the "Alabama Gang". He was killed in a crash during practice for a NASCAR Busch Series race at Michigan International Speedway in 1992.
Life and career
Son of the legendary Bobby Allison, nephew of Donnie and brother to Davey, Clifford Allison was raised in Hueytown, Alabama and was a member of stock car racing's "Alabama Gang".Allison was seen as "crazy wild" by his relatives, and his brother stated he believed Clifford had the greater talent of the two younger Allisons. After marrying young, he worked in a coal mine in Kentucky for a period in the 1980s, but soon returned to Alabama and shortly after was divorced. He was then briefly crew chief for his father's Busch Series race team before the team was disbanded in 1988. By that time he remarried, Allison had started his racing career in earnest in the early 1990s, competing in ARCA and NASCAR Busch Series events; he began the 1990 season competing for rookie of the year in the Busch Series, driving for Frank Cicci, but was released after the season's seventh race for poor performances. Allison drove for Clint Folsom on a limited basis in 1991, while in 1992 he joined team owner Barry Owen, intending to run the majority of the series schedule.
Allison's best finish in professional stock car racing came in an ARCA race at Texas World Speedway in April 1992, where he finished second.
Death
During practice for the Detroit Gasket 200, a Busch Series race at Michigan International Speedway in August 1992, Allison spun in turn four, hitting the concrete wall with the driver's side; he died shortly thereafter while in transit to hospital. He was the first of two Allisons to die within the space of eleven months; his brother perished in a helicopter crash at Talladega Superspeedway the following year.Bobby Labonte and Richard Lasater were the first to reach the accident scene. It was reported that the driver's seat was "ripped from its moorings" in the accident and Allison was unrestrained in the crash.
NASCAR officials disputed that there was significant equipment failure. "The integrity of the car's safety features were there," NASCAR vice president Les Richter said. "The seat had moved a bit, but it was not flopping around. The car hit the wall almost absolutely flush, and that's one of the worst kinds of accidents."
On August 23, The Atlanta Constitution reported that according to "a driver who tried to assist Allison after the crash and a crew chief in the Grand National Series who requested anonymity, the cause of the fatal head injury was a broken seat, which prevented the safety harness from working properly and allowed Allison to be pitched into the car's roll cage."
In January 1996, Allison's estate filed a lawsuit against NASCAR, Michigan International Speedway, car-owner Barry Owen, helmet and harness manufacturer Simpson Performance Products, and seat builder Brian Butler. It was alleged that the faulty equipment and poor inspections turned a crash that should have been survivable into a fatal injury. A judge excused NASCAR, Penske Speedways, and Owen from the lawsuit but Simpson and Butler failed to respond to the lawsuit and were held financially responsible for Allison's death.
Allison had three children at the time of his death, Brandon, Tanya, and Leslie. Widow Elisa is currently an author.